How much should a shotgun cost?

Because my sister has just shown me her latest toy. I've no idea about the details apart from the fact that it's a shotgun and it cost her £5000! (yes that is meant to be three zeroes in there!)

Marionb

Jamanda

Marion's sig sums it up!

JB

Marion's sig sums it up!

Oi! That's my sister your talking about. If it's her money she can spend it how she likes.

(though when out of earshot I'd probably agree with you)

Jamanda

It is probably a very beautiful piece of engineering. Things are worth what people are willing to spend on them as far as I'm concerned.

Nick

It is probably a very beautiful piece of engineering. Things are worth what people are willing to spend on them as far as I'm concerned.

Especially if they're packing heat.

perlogalism

Yep, £5K is more than I'd spend BUT it's nowhere near what a good shotgun can cost.
I was using a nice "loaner" at the Midland Game Fair last year when the coach casually mentioned it was £9000 worth! I did shoot well with it though

JB

It is probably a very beautiful piece of engineering. Things are worth what people are willing to spend on them as far as I'm concerned.

Possibly so but I don't believe spending that much will really make her shoot any straighter, even if she did point to her trophy cabinet and attribute them to her new gun. Which seemed a bit odd rather than claiming it to be skill on her part. Personally I found it awkward and uncomfortable but she does have a very short custom stock on it. (and I still find it hard to believe that any shotgun can really be worth that much)

12Bore

Ah, custom stock! This is not just a shotgun, this is bespoke.

sean

And if it's got a custom stock it will make her shoot straighter. Or at least more likely to hit what she's looking at.

JB

Though she had a custom stock on her last gun, even though that was just a cheap thing (i.e. that only cost £1500!)

Colin & Jan

In shotgun terms £5k is probably middle of the range. To buy a good secondhand English ejector (Holland & Holland or Purdy) would set you back £10k+ and some of the Spanish or Italian better makes are that price+.

Doesn't make you shoot any better but it's all about 'style'. There is an awful lot of snobishness in shooting, the same as most sports. In my opinion the snobishness is perpetuated by the salesmen. As an example you seldom see the shooting set wearing Muckboots. Aigle, Le Chameau and the likes but seldom Muckboots, yet they are 40% of the price. I am an exception to the rule and I still have friends ask me why I don't buy some proper shooting clothes!!

One of the best shots I know uses a £50 Baikal over & under; ironically he could easily afford a 'best' gun.

Ruralnaedowell

£25 Will get you a machine made single barrel that will last a lifetime !

carlos-thejackal

guns like all things are at times more about statements of wealth than anything else, as said before just because it was expensive it does not make it any more certain to hit the target.

I went to clay day a while ago and this well to do bloke rolled up with the obligatory range rover sport, pulled out a 20K holland and holland and could not hit a barn from the inside...

then it was the local old boy's turn, who was shooting a rusty old side by side and he was rubbish as well.... poor old guy should have gone to spec savers....

no matter what it cost, the skill of learning to shoot takes longer and costs more....

oldish chris

years ago, I had a large bonus and did well on the stock market. One of my sons urged me to get a decent motor. I did some research and reckoned that the best car I could get would be a BMW 520 Tourer.

I then thought "that's a lot of money!", followed by wondering how many years I could live on that amount of dosh.

Financially I'm still ahead of plan

So, when I hear of someone spending an outrageous amount of money to impress an even bigger idiot, I think "you went out to work for that, what a plonker!"

Nick

Yeah, fancy buying stuff you like. What idiots would do that.

carlos-thejackal

Yeah, fancy buying stuff you like. What idiots would do that.

actually it is important never to judge people by your own limitations, too many people fall at the first. Me included.... DOH!

Chez

Is it one of those things that when you are only 'average' at a sport it doesn't make much difference, but when you are really good, it does? I'm thinking about stuff like shaving your body hair off when swimming, that sort of thing.

Lloyd

I bought my side by side in about 1995 for £80 as a gun to learn on, as I have always been a rifle shooter, more than a shotgunner, and the styles are different. I always told myself that as I improved I'd upgrade.
Guess what?...I never improved and still can't hit anything so still have the gun.

oldish chris

Is it one of those things that when you are only 'average' at a sport it doesn't make much difference, but when you are really good, it does? I'm thinking about stuff like shaving your body hair off when swimming, that sort of thing.

Sort of. My take on it is like the rich kid who takes up cycling and gets a £1,000 bike. He can strike a magnificent pose, but can't keep up with the others, who laugh at him behind his back.

But a shotgun? I can understand an expensive, bespoke rifle for championship target shooting, but a scatter gun?

carlos-thejackal

a more random fact apparently hitler shaved his legs...

can't recall how that fact popped up, in the conversation at the pub....

vegplot

Is it one of those things that when you are only 'average' at a sport it doesn't make much difference, but when you are really good, it does? I'm thinking about stuff like shaving your body hair off when swimming, that sort of thing.

Wouldn't it be easier to do standing up in front of a mirror? I could be wrong.

vegplot

But a shotgun? I can understand an expensive, bespoke rifle for championship target shooting, but a scatter gun?

Why not? A premium shotgun manufacturer has just been empowered to keep their staff on for a while longer.

nugger

Every one to their own

I paid $150 for a winchester pump action 10 years ago from walmarts & I have put thousands of shots thru it & it never fails to fire, never jams, love it. Like others have said, its a status thing, can't see how a shot gun can shoot better than another, its just a glorified blunder bust but we all have our weakness & I am a frugal person now looking at buying some Trickers cos I love shoes. Think this is because as a kid I grew up putting card board or oil cloth in the bottom of my shoes that had holes in them.

carlos-thejackal

It seems there's lots of people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

oldish chris

It seems there's lots of people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

that's why designer labels were invented - to make sure you know the cost, and value = cost (unless it is last year's fashion).

vegplot

Re: Every one to their own

Not everyone who buys an expensive shotgun does it for status. Quite often the motive is to have something of beauty that is extremely well made by a craftsman. These guns are often never fired but kept as prized possessions and often no-one but the owner even sees them.

tahir

Yep, £5K is more than I'd spend BUT it's nowhere near what a good shotgun can cost.
I was using a nice "loaner" at the Midland Game Fair last year when the coach casually mentioned it was £9000 worth! I did shoot well with it though

Someone I know has 2 £15k shotguns, Beretta I think??

carlos-thejackal

Re: Every one to their own

Not everyone who buys an expensive shotgun does it for status. Quite often the motive is to have something of beauty that is extremely well made by a craftsman. These guns are often never fired but kept as prized possessions and often no-one but the owner even sees them.

A friend of mine works for Holland and Holland, 40K + for a single rifle or shotgun is not un-heard of I've seen some of the work Asprey's do and then it can be 100K plus....

as investment pieces go you can't go wrong with the right bit of kit...

paul1963

a more random fact apparently hitler shaved his legs...

can't recall how that fact popped up, in the conversation at the pub....

Doesn't surprise me, because for a while the wermacht won the tour de france...........I'll get my coat

Bebo

My Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon was 1250 new late last year. Good starter gun for clay shooting at a not unreasonable price. You can spend much much more very easily. Mine does the job when I manage to point it in the right place and remember to keep it moving.

12Bore

Whatever you pay for a shotgun, you could pay as much, if not more, for golf racquets.

And that way lies madness...

Bebo

Decided my gun was worth what I paid for it. Just come back from my best every clay shooting performance of 63 from 100.